Title: Chasm
By: jenabartley
Pairing: Mac/Danny
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up to Season Two, Manhattan Manhunt
Summary: There is a rift between them now.

***

"Working late?"

Danny jumped from where he sat hunched over the table. Mac sighed inwardly as Danny's expression shifted from an intense focus to wariness. His shoulders hunched slightly as Mac entered the lab.

"Yeah. Working on a cold case from a few years ago. Did Lieutenant Caine go back to Miami yet?"

"Left a couple of hours ago." Mac wandered around the room, examining the photos and other evidence Danny had laid out. He could hear Danny's fingers tapping nervously on the table.

"He's certainly an interesting person to work with." Danny was watching Mac carefully as Mac's wandering ended with him standing on the opposite side of the table from Danny.

"Yes. He does have his quirks but he is a good man. He tends to think more like a cop than a scientist but he runs a good lab down in Miami."

"While you're more scientist than cop, and more focussed on following the evidence rather than gut instinct." A tiny smile curved Danny's lips upwards.

Mac smiled back, hearing the echo of a long, never to be resolved debate in Danny's words. "Gut instinct is good, Danny but evidence will nail the perp far more than gut instinct."

An awkward silence fell between them, causing Danny's smile to fade. Mac glanced down at the lab report he'd picked up. For a brief moment it almost felt like a year ago with Danny teasing him.

There was a rift between them that Mac didn't know how or even if he wanted to heal it. Not after Tanglewood, or the Minhas shooting, not to mention Danny's blatant defiance of Mac's orders to drop a case. He thought he knew Danny after five years of working with him. After the past year, now he wasn't sure he ever truly knew or understood Danny, or if he even still trusted Danny like before.

"What's the Miami lab like?" Danny's head was down, examining the photo in front of him.

"A good group, though still dealing with the death of one of their own last year."

"Ya know, I almost applied to work down in Miami when I became a CSI. All that sun and warmth, thought it would be a nice change from New York."

Danny's voice drew Mac away from his thoughts and back to his surroundings. "Why didn't you?" His eyes locked onto Danny's.

Danny shrugged, looking away from Mac, and licking his lips. "Decided I like New York too much to leave."

Mac laid the lab report back on the table. "That's good to know. Good night, Danny."

"Night, Mac."

Mac felt Danny's eyes on him as he left. He also found himself remembering the look in Caine's face when he introduced Mac to one of his CSI, a pretty, blonde woman called Calleigh Duquesne. The look on Horatio's face had been one of pride and something a little deeper than just affection for a friend and colleague.

A look that reminded him of what he had started to realize over the past year about himself and Danny. That his anger and battered trust over Danny's actions affected him much more on a personal level than just as a boss disappointed by one of his star employees.

***